Trump's risk with black voters, viewers

Politico’s Ben Smith makes some interesting points -- and has some punchy quotes -- about the risk Donald Trump faces in going the birther route, particularly to his business. And numbers in a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll highlights that risk.

In Smith’s post, Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, (and others) connected the dots between birtherism and race. "There's a lot of people that I've talked to instinctively think that he's using the issue as a proxy for race," Morial said, adding, “It's like a modern day Salem witch trial -- because there's no merit to it.”

The February NBC/WSJ poll showed 26% had a favorable opinion of Trump, while 29% had a negative one. And the groups that had the most favorable opinion of Trump were Hispanics (33%-23%) and African Americans (27%-22%).

That should be a warning sign to Trump that not all publicity is good publicity and that there is substantial risk in potentially alienating black viewers.

Others with a favorable opinion of Trump in the poll: Tea Party supporters (29%-25%), Republicans (31%-28%), Northeasterners (32%-25%), Midwesterners (30%-27%), those with less than a high school education (34/24).

He’s a net-negative with whites (26%-30%), white men (27%-31%), white women (25%-28%), suburban voters (24%-35%), GOP/Non-Tea (30%-31%), the South (28%-29%), the West (13%-34%).